I have noticed that when someone is banned, their avatar goes away in all their posts. It returns when (if) they are unbanned.

In the year she's 5 by Sept. 1, she needs to be registered with an accountability group, according to how I read the statute. So that'd be next year for you guys. State dept info here. We did a private kindergarten and then started homeschooling in 1st grade. I've never reported anything to our district, just signed up with a 3rd option accountability group. They report to the state the number of students and grades of kids from each district. Looks like next year you'd want to sign up with an accountability group for K - OR report to the district that you're not doing K. I think it'd be easier to be with a group rather than have contact with the district.

Yes... but... ;) We have homeschool zoo classes that are divided by age range. My son will be 10 this fall and I'm signing him up for the 11-14 class. I've received permission from the instructor who's had him in classes before. He's interested in attending the older classes and said he hopes he'll learn stuff he didn't already know. If an activity is primarily social, it makes sense to be age-based, but if an activity is primarily academic, I think it should be based on where the kids are academically. If we were told we needed to stay in the class based on age, I don't know that we'd be doing the class this fall. And I'm sure there are some people who push their kids ahead, but if a 10yo is really doing 9th grade work, why shouldn't they attend a program for 9th graders?

Yup. My mother is a minister with the ELCA (father too). Missouri Synod doesn't ordain women.

:iagree:

We read wind in the willows using his book. It had 4 level analysis of some sentences. He points out some figures of speech and meter of writing. We will do some of the second set this year. I think you can jump in at any point.

And I will say again....I used to put the question "there are ---- states I the United States of America" as a bonus on my tests at the cc after I learned that some students didn't know the number. It was appalling how many got it wrong. One calculus student argued with me about her answer (52).

The samples on the website for each level (pdf files) give a table of contents and I think the first lesson for each book. You can also check out samples at Rainbow Resource so you can get a feel for how the book looks. The first few lessons in level 1 are getting used to the phonograms, tiles, and sound cards. We're finishing up level 4 right now. We definitely don't go as quickly as some people, but my son is absolutely not a natural speller. :lol: Each lesson has a review at the start - you go over sound cards, phonograms, key cards (the rules), and any word cards that your child needs to review. There's new teaching, a list of 10 words and in many lessons some extra words. Starting at level 3 (I think) there are also 12 dictation sentences that use the words. At level 4, there's a writing station where 5 words are given that the child uses to write sentences. My son generally tries to make them into a story or put them all in one sentence. There aren't any tests, although if you wanted to use the cards and make your own, you sure could. I think the reinforcement via review is enough. I have seen improvements in my son's spelling and it did start very soon after we switched to AAS. When he misspells a word now, I can ask him about the rule and he'll generally remember. My planning for AAS is really just to use the timer and move on when he's done with 15-20 min. I do continual review by putting the words he misses in the next lesson. When we do dictation, I'll toss in sentences he missed from prior lessons.

The movie is good too. I think we watched the movie and then I got the combo book. I have had to tell my son not to read the graphic novels I have at his age. I think at about 7th or 8th grade will be when I give him access to Persepolis, V for Vendetta, and Maus.

My son was a self-taught reader. He went from not being able to read at age 5 to reading Lord of the Rings at age 7 (and complaining about why the movie was completely wrong and destroyed the book... so we knew he understood the book). We used Spelling Workout in 1st and 2nd grade and there was no retention. I had The ABCs and All Their Tricks as a phonics reference (and it's a good book to have). I switched to All About Spelling and it was such a better fit. We didn't do phonics, since my son was clearly already reading, but he had problems pronouncing words he hadn't heard. AAS helped with that. He disliked the tiles at first, but I felt they helped - in particular with segmenting words and getting syllable divisions. I think that is an important component. We spend 15-20 minutes on spelling a day. When the timer goes off, that's it. Sometimes we may work on two lessons in the same day with neither checked off. I do a good bit of review and moving ahead. If you go with AAS, start with Level 1: teacher's manual & student packet. Get a kit too. I'd go with the basic kit. I wanted the tiles (a key component in my mind) and I used the CD a lot with the first level. I have found that my son's pronunciation has really improved along with his spelling. He's internalized the rules in a way that I still haven't, so he's able to say why we'd spell a word in a certain way. I really like how AAS states rules and exceptions (and that's also where I'll refer to ABCs to look at how many exceptions there are). AAS has been the best curriculum switch I've made.

It'd be great if those of you who are throwing out pencils would send a note to the manufacturer and ask them not to use triclosan. If they hear from consumers who are disappointed and are boycotting, maybe they'll make changes. But they won't unless they hear it.

I think it may be iN the paint they're using. :glare:

TI-89. And 92 which you don't see anymore. There also are programs that'll do it too. I clear calculator memories before tests in my classes. And in some, I haven't allowed the 89.

I don't know the university system in Canada, but you could contact any local schools and see if they had a writing center that you could work in part-time. That also may be a way to get an adjunct position too.

The infamous thread that started it... check out post 74 for (I believe) the origination of the euphemism.

I think having a drop policy makes a huge difference. I can't see having one unless it is college policy though. I know ours has the drop policy for financial aid. It sounds like before there was the drop policy, students would attend until they got their excess money (Pell grants generally, released towards midterm) and then they'd be gone until the next semester. The changes in financial aid should be making this less likely though. Sounds like "satisfactory academic progress" is being defined a lot tighter. I'd be sure to put material from the day everyone was absent on the next test :) At least you should be halfway through this semester. Hang in there!

We've started leaving our son alone for a while. He has the phone and can contact us at any point. I was left alone with my sister a lot and it was awful. We fought a ton. So from my experiences, I'd be much more comfortable leaving one child alone at an earlier age than multiple children.

Sometimes you also just get a bad group. My course where no one passed was in 1999. The cc I'm at now has attendance policies that allow me to drop students after they've missed a certain number of classes. That does help some.

We did The Hobbit as a read-aloud when ds was 7. He wanted to continue with LoTR but I didn't want to read it aloud... so he read it himself. Unfortunately he despises the movies for how they changed the book. (I love the movies and only read Fellowship.) I'd start with Hobbit and then if they want to continue and you do too, go for it.

:grouphug:

Oh man...that's bad. :grouphug:

Link to PBS NewsHour report on Alan Alda's Flame Challenge: explain to an 11-year-old what a flame is. It's a question he had when he was 11. And a link to the winning video. Also includes link to Richard Feynman explanation of fire.

We've got food allergies here including dairy. My son was dropping on the growth chart, so our ped referred us to a dietician. She was absolutely useless. She seemed stuck at the no dairy. We tried a couple of things but when we saw her a second time a month later, she asked if he could have milk now. :glare: So it'd be nice to get someone who can help, but it may just be a hoop. I'd go in with an open mind (and we did), but it was a rather frustrating experience here. Good luck to OP.

:lol:

Caesar's English has been great here. We're finishing up Bk I. My son has a pretty good vocabulary already through his extensive reading. At least, he's always gotten some of those looks when we're out and he speaks normally for him. CE gives a bit more of a solid foundation & it's been fun seeing some of our read-alouds mentioned in the book and seeing the words selected mentioned in outside reading. I also loved it when on a long drive, my husband was asking my son what some of his vocabulary words were. Dh said, "Amaze me with something you've learned." Ds replied, "Oh long and tedious night, abate thy hours," (which we had just had as a quote from Midsummer). Dh's jaw dropped. :lol: I like CE.